California Water Service Group $CWT Shares Bought by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,643 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.08% of California Water Service Group worth $2,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 2.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Choreo LLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 38,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 8.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in California Water Service Group by 4.6% during the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 13,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the period. 82.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of California Water Service Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of California Water Service Group from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Water Service Group in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

California Water Service Group Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:CWT opened at $49.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.96. California Water Service Group has a fifty-two week low of $41.64 and a fifty-two week high of $52.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.25. California Water Service Group had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 8.28%. The company had revenue of $264.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. California Water Service Group’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that California Water Service Group will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

California Water Service Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. California Water Service Group’s payout ratio is 52.40%.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services in California, Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Texas. The company is involved in the production, purchase, storage, treatment, testing, distribution, and sale of water for domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation uses, as well as for fire protection services.